It will however also bring a number of changes to less used or noticed features, doing some “spring” cleaning and removing outdated or underused features.

Removing these underused features helps make Windows easier to maintain, reduces the number of potential security issues, and allows for the development of new features.

At the same time, it also increases the risk of old applications failing and of upsetting some users who are have become accustomed to the availability of these features.

Microsoft has posted a list of apps and features which are being deprecated (ie not in active development and which may be removed in future releases) or actually being removed in the Fall Creators Update.

Some of the features I suspect most of our readers have never heard of (e.g. TCP Offload engine) and others may worry old time Windows users.

The main feature that stands out to me, and which is being deprecated and therefore a risk of removal is the Paint app, which I used multiple times per day to resize, crop and label images. It remains much faster than a full image editor, and its absence will be missed.

Microsoft is also looking to remove screen saver support. It is being removed from themes, and will eventually be removed from the Control Panel and Group Policy support. This is likely because the company has other uses for the Lock Screen rather than showing flying toasters.

Some items appear to be set for removal before a replacement is ready, such as Reading List and Sync your settings, but I suspect hardly anyone use those features in any case.

Microsoft posted the list to help users make early plans to adapt to the changes. The list is still subject to change (for those who want to fight for Paint 😉 ) but can be seen in full below.

Removed and deprecated features

Feature

Removed

Deprecated

3D Builder app

No longer installed by default. Consider using Print 3D and Paint 3D in its place. However, 3D Builder is still available for download from the Windows Store.

X

Apndatabase.xml

For more information about the replacement database, see the following Hardware Dev Center articles:

Use will be blocked. Consider using the Exploit Protection feature of Windows Defender Exploit Guard as a replacement.

X

IIS 6 Management Compatibility

We recommend that users use alternative scripting tools and a newer management console.

X

IIS Digest Authentication

We recommend that users use alternative authentication methods.

X

Microsoft Paint

X

Outlook Express

Removing this non-functional legacy code.

X

Reader app

Functionality to be integrated into Microsoft Edge.

X

Reading List

Functionality to be integrated into Microsoft Edge.

X

RSA/AES Encryption for IIS

We recommend that users use CNG encryption provider.

X

Sync Your Settings

Back-end changes: The current sync process is being deprecated. In a future release, the same cloud storage system for syncing settings will be used for both Enterprise State Roaming users and all other users. (Currently, these users use different cloud storage systems.)

X

Screen saver functionality in Themes

To be disabled in Themes (classified as “Removed” in this table). Screen saver functionality in Group Policies, Control Panel, and Sysprep is now deprecated but continues to be functional. Lockscreen features and policies are preferred.

X

X

Syskey.exe

Removing this nonsecure security feature. We recommend that users use BitLocker instead. For more information, see the following Knowledge Base article: